By 1975, the number of poets involved with the venture outgrew that space, so Algarín rented an Irishpub, the Sunshine Café on East 6th Street, and they christened it "The Nuyorican Poets Café". Some of the featured poets at this time included founders Miguel Algarín, Miguel Piñero and Lucky Cienfuegos. Jorge Brandon aka El Coco que Habla, Sandra María Esteves, Pedro Pietri, Bimbo Rivas, Victor Hernández Cruz, Tato Laviera, Piri Thomas, Jesús Papoleto Meléndez, and José Angel Figueroa were some of the poets featured during the mid to late 1970s. By 1980, the overflow of audiences led them to purchase their current building at 236 East 3rd Street so as to expand their activities and programs.[1] During this time the second wave of Nuyorican Poets, featured at the café, emerged including Nancy Mercado and Martín Espada.

In explaining the philosophy of the venture, co-founder Algarín said:

We must listen to one another. We must respect one another's habits and we must share the truth and the integrity that the voice of the poet so generously provides.[1]

In the 1990s a new group of Nuyorican poets and performing artists emerged to read at the café.

In 1994, Nuyorican Poets Café was the subject of a 14-minute documentary entitled Nuyorican Poets Café. Directed, produced and edited by Ray Santisteban, the documentary features founder Miguel Algarin along with Willie Perdomo, Ed Morales, Pedro Pietri, and Carmen Bardeguez Brown. Nuyorican Poets Café won "Best Documentary" at the 1995 New Latino Filmmaker's Festival in Los Angeles, California.[2]

In 1996, the Nuyorican Poets Café Poetry Slam Team was the subject of a feature-length documentary entitled SlamNation. Directed by Paul Devlin, the documentary follows Nuyorican Poetry Slam founder Bob Holman and the poets of the 1996 Nuyorican team (Saul Williams, Beau Sia, Jessica Care Moore and muMs) as they compete in the 1996 National Poetry Slam held in Portland, OR. The documentary also features performances by Marc Smith, Taylor Mali, and Patricia Smith among others.